Toyota Sienna Sliding Door Problems

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So, how do I tell what fix I need? On my passenger auto door, it opens and closes fine if you pull on the handle. If you press the button on the fob, it tries to close and then stops right away, and it wont open with the button either. Thanks.

that is probably the actuator. I paid about $100 for mine and it took about 3 hours being very deliberate.

I actually have a second one since there was a nick in the first one I bought so they sent another for free. I was kind of saving it in case it happens again, but we will probably sell the van in the next few months.

My girlfriend has a 2009 Sienna with power sliding doors. She is having an issue with the passenger sliding door. She said she was driving and noticed the door open light was on, pulled over and closed it. After re-closing it light went off. Later, while she was driving, the door opened all the way by itself.

The door seems to function, (opening and closing with all switches, remote and manually) but I have noticed something odd that the passenger door is doing that the drivers side is not doing. When the door closes, you can hear, and see, the rear latch engage, but about 1-2 seconds later, you hear the latch again, and the door pops out ever so slightly. The other odd part of this is that when it first latches, the door is actually pulled in beyond the body line of the rear quarter. It's almost like it is pulling the door in to far. After the 1-2 second delay, and you hear the latch again, the door pops out a little, but at this point, the door is now in perfect line with the quarter panel like it should be. I tried pushing from the inside, and prying from the outside to teat the latch, but the door does not move.

I'm sure this is not normal, (as the drivers side does not do this) and now we don't know if it is going to fly open again at some point or if it is truly latched. Have you heard or seen this before? Any suggestions on what might be causing the the rear latch to disengage slightly?

Awesome! Your post is old but relevant. My wife's car (2006 Sienna LE) just started showing this problem. Opening or closing the sliding door works via door handles (manual unlatching) but using any button, ie FOB, interior buttons, (motor assist unlatching) does not work. Door lurches but is still latched so it fails to open. Door lock release motor acts like it is toast.

Your part number is still valid today. I called local Toyota dealer who quoted same part (85620-08061) at $149 while the same part at Toyotapart.com (http://www.toyotapart.com/85620-08061.html) is only $80 as of this post. And the dealer was only quoting part cost not part and installation cost.

I am ok around mechanical things and I am cheap and refuse to pay $$$$ for this repair so this *shouldn't* be a problem to change out. The extra notes about the motor screws location being on the back of the control panel was good.

Hopefully this repair doesn't require any special tools you have to purchase from toyota.

Thanks so much for your very detailed post. It made a world of difference. It helped me diagnose and locate the issue without having to pull the door panel off first. Before ordering I will go ahead and pull the panel and verify the release motor is not functioning.

Good grief I have flipp'n electric toy motors that last longer than this!

I'm all for your Facebook page. I have a 2011 with the exact same issue with no real help from dealer. They continue to brush off the issue because I can get occur with them but the symptoms continue. It seems to be more frequent when parked on any sloped surface.

I have similar problems with my '05 Sienna, so whoever mentioned not buying a first year in production model needs to reconsider that thought!

I take care of routine and all preventative maintenance on this van because it's paid off and I don't want another car payment (kids in college and private HS). We live in the Mid-Atlantic (East Coast) area and this is a summary of the problems I've had with my '05 Sienna LE:

Trim fell off from exterior window between mid-window and rear window; interior bolt and
screw covers have fallen off and cannot be repaired

Power steering rack fell to pieces and had to be completely replaced (again under warranty)

Power steering fluid leaks; antifreeze leaks

Driver's side door weld failed

Sliding doors freeze at or below 32 degrees ... sometimes for days at a time.

Automatic transmission jumps/jolts during shift to next gear (my mechanic says that this was a known programming error, but could only be fixed under warranty or I would have to pay)

Rear license tag light cannot be accessed for replacement even after removal of the entire rear gate interior panel!

There are more, but those are the ones that have bugged me the most. I also know that Toyota quality went out the door when our vehicles were manufactured. Don't know if I'll ever go back after this van. I never had quality issues like this with Honda!

I'm beginning to have the same door latch release issues with my '05 Sienna, but it's definitely intermittent. Having replaced the door motor and cable assembly once already, I was told to turn off the sliding door motor when on a hill so the door motor and cable assembly don't get overworked. Since then (5+ years ago), the door has been functioning properly.

Also, does anyone have trouble getting the sliding doors to "lock" open? IOW, the door should click and hold open when fully opened, but many times, those latches don't catch.